


Curiosity

by Silence_is_Bliss



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-21 19:58:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15565311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silence_is_Bliss/pseuds/Silence_is_Bliss
Summary: Static had been heard from The Umbra Staff for as long as anyone could remember. But what would happen if that static became spoken for?





	1. Answers!

**Author's Note:**

> A Taz AU where Lup is able to be heard from The Umbra Staff and Angus found the Baby Voidfish before the others

Angus was a fairly obedient kid... No, that was a lie. When rules were set, it was often to hide answers. So he was obedient when it came to obvious rules; don’t eat too much sugar, be polite. But when it came to secrets? Well, he wasn’t the greatest detective if he wasn’t willing to bend the rules to get his answers. That’s what led him to the Director’s living quarters. Answers.  
It wasn’t that difficult to get in, he was a small boy, hard to notice. Puzzles that tried to prevent him from getting through were easy to solve. Just touching twelve orbs in a certain order, easy as one two three.  
Now, he stood in front of the door he had been eager to get to. He didn’t expect a vault door, but that just made him even more excited. It was a 7 digit numerical code. Angus silently wondered why Lucretia had gone through all that trouble on that puzzle only to have such an easy lock to crack. But, he shrugged that off, cast silence just in case, and started entering numbers. He had known going into this that it would take a while, so he had told people he’d be on earth today doing some investigation, and that he wouldn’t be able to be in contact with them. It wasn’t the best alibi in the world, but it would hopefully buy him enough time. He just prayed that The Director wouldn’t come back here. She spent most the day in her office, so he was pretty sure he’d be alright.  
It luckily didn’t take too long until he was able to get the code. About two hours which wasn’t long considering there were 604,800 different combinations. He worked fast. But, he was hesitant to open it when he heard the buzzing of the electronic lock that meant success. He was doing something very very bad. Was it worth knowing what she was hiding behind a vault door? She had given him a home and a family. This was breaking her trust, wasn’t it? His hand kind of shook, but he had come this far, and he had to make a decision before his luck ran out. With a deep breath and some mental reassurance, he pushed the vault door open.  
The Director’s room was very organized. Small, but organized. There was a picture of her with six other people. He couldn’t make out all the faces, but he did see Taako, Merle, and Magnus in it. He assumed it was just something from candlelights and the picture messed up a bit. Though, he’d come back to it in a little while. There were a couple stacks of paper and journals neatly placed on her desk. He looked through the journals, but didn’t find much. There was a paperclip with a pin on it. The pin had some letters on it though he couldn’t make them out. There was a holy symbol of a tree within a circle. Was The Director religious? Interesting.  
In the corner of the room, there was a tank. Angus noted the light from within it and the way his mind felt weird when he looked directly at it. It was a familiar feeling that he knew from the first time he saw the voidfish. He realized his next move almost immediately. He dug around in the bag he kept at his side until he found his canteen and eagerly scooped some of the liquid from the tank into it.  
“Answers Answers!” He cheered under his breath as he carefully took a drink.  
Sure enough, he was right. Where the bright light had been, he saw a small voidfish swimming around excitedly. There was a slightly different pattern of universe in the smaller voidfish, but that and its size were the only things you could use to tell the two apart. He smiled wide and put his hand against the tank. The baby voidfish sprang to attention and pressed its tendril against the glass where Angus’ hand was, making the little boy giggle. It hummed a tune, and Angus hummed it back which seemed to please the small voidfish. But other than the appearance of the voidfish, nothing was immediately coming to mind.  
Disappointed, he scanned his thoughts one last time. Still, nothing came up. He sighed. He didn’t even notice the now readable IPRE pin that was clipped to that piece of paper, or the now not blurry faces in the picture. So, with nothing other than a bad taste in his mouth, he left, once again not having much trouble.  
The question of why The Director had a voidfish in her chambers was most definitely on Angus’ mind. Maybe it was a fail safe. Though, that begged the question of how information would process in one’s mind if they had ichor from one voidfish and not the other if they both were hiding the same information. Curious. It was a possibility, but he felt as if there was something else that would make more sense. It’s got to be hiding more information. Maybe it was there just in case The Director needed to make people on the moonbase forget something. Yeah, that made sense though that made him wonder what The Director was wanting to hide from those on the moonbase.  
Angus let his hand trail the wall as he thought to himself. He went between quietly humming and mumbling. It was sooner than later when he was back at the office. He peered out the door and patiently waited until it was safe to step out as he hummed the tune the baby voidfish had sung.  
He passed The Director in the hall, giving her a quizzical glace as the question almost left his mouth of what she was hiding. But, instead it came out as, “Good afternoon, Madam Director!”  
The woman, who had been deep in her own thoughts, gave Angus an absent nod, “Good afternoon.”  
“Uh, I had a quick question,” Angus examined her posture and expressions carefully. She seemed calm, “Where did you find the voidfish?” There was a drastic shift in her expression as she went from calm to agitated, much more alert than she was just a couple moments ago.  
“Oh, well-”  
“Actually, I have a whole lot of questions. Why did you build a moonbase for the Bureau of Balance? How did you build a moonbase? When did you first hear about the relics? How do you know about all of them? How do you know that you know of all of them? What if there are more? How do you destroy something so powerful?” Lucretia became more and more anxious with each question. Which was fine. Whether Angus got answers, truthful or otherwise, he would still see her reactions. That’s what he needed to piece things together on his own, “Why do you think Taako, Merle, and Magnus are able to handle the relics but none of the others are? Why haven’t you tried to find more people who are resistant to the thrall? Are you religious?” Angus stopped to catch his breath, “You know, I’ve gotten off track. Where did you find the voidfish?”  
Lucretia blinked, trying to process all of the questions, “Uh. I can’t tell you?-”  
Angus quickly cut her off, “Why not? Do you not remember? Would you actually physically be able to tell me or would I not hear you?” She winced at that question. Noted, “Does the voidfish make its own whereabouts hidden by static?”  
The Director didn’t do anything for a minute, but when she did, she smiled and pat Angus on the shoulder, “Sometimes, you’re too smart for your own good. I’m glad we have such an intelligent seeker,” She walked off.  
Some people were very good at avoiding questions. This is why Angus was working on Zone of Truth. It was technically illegal to use during questioning because the people had right to free speech. He understood the ethics of that, free speech. They were very interesting, and they had a very good reason to be instated. But he wasn’t on earth, was he? He was on the moon. The didn’t have any laws that tested the morals. They just had rules like no dogs.  
Angus decided to end his relentless questioning and made his way back to his dorm. On his way through the hallways, his stone of Far Speech buzzed in his pocket. It kind of made him jump as he had been alert all day and just let down his guard, but he managed to scramble to pull it out of his pocket.  
“Hello?”  
“Hey, Mango. I’ve got some free time, and I’m bored. Magic lessons?”  
Angus smiled brightly as Taako made the offer. Magic was so fascinating and Taako was a great teacher and a role model of his, “Yeah! Meet me in the courtyard, I’ll have the components for arcane lock ready!”  
“You do know you have to basically eat 25 gold pieces for that spell.”  
Angus paused, “I’ll have the components for Alarm ready!”  
“Hells yeah! See ya there.”  
Angus put his Stone of Far Speech back into his pocket and made his way into his room. He scavenged through some drawers until he found a small bell and a silver wire that he had specifically for this spell. He slipped the items into a small felt bag for safety, grabbed a Caleb Clevelend novel just in case there was a wait, and made his way to the courtyard.  
The courtyard was gorgeous as always. There were a couple people out, enjoying the day. Angus took a seat on the “grass” and raked his fingers through it. It was pretty good “grass.”  
Taako hadn’t arrived yet, which was fine. Angus didn’t expect him to show up for at least ten minutes. That’s why he brought his book. He laid back, briefly examining the sky, before holding a book in front of his face.  
…  
Taako took his time though that was expected. He was usually ‘fashionably late” to a lot of things like this By the time Taako showed up, Angus had read about a fourth more of his book. To be fair, he was an incredibly fast reader. He noticed Taako immediately, so the boy made a note of the page he was on then set his book aside.  
“Hi, Mr. Taako! Thanks for agreeing to more magic lessons after the chaos that happened last time. The umbra staff must’ve really not liked my Macarons,” He laughed nervously as he pushed himself to his feet and gave a toothy grin to Taako.  
Angus heard an amused, muffled “my b.” as well as a laugh. He glanced around the courtyard. There were still other people there. It was probably just a distant conversation.  
“No problemo, kid. That was just a small technical difficulty. Nothing to get all flustered about,” Taako waved his hand dismissively as he leaned against the umbra staff, “It...Probably… won’t happen again.”  
He heard another snicker, but he decided to dismiss it as he had before.  
Angus smiled anxiously, “That’s very reassuring, sir.” And that was a lie. Both of them knew it, but Taako happily pretended like it wasn’t.  
“Isn’t it!” The elf grinned as he dramatically flipped his braid over his shoulder, “Anyway. You said you had the stuff for Alarm all prepared?”  
“Mhm!”  
“Fantastic,” Taako smirked as if he had a plan in mind. It wouldn’t shock Angus. They often turned magic lessons into more of a game to mess with people. It was fun because he still got to learn, but he also got to bond more with Taako and some of the other Bureau of Balance members.  
“Cast it on that door and then we’ll go ahead and call Magnus out here and watch him flip when he suddenly hears a bell above him.”  
Angus heard another laugh. It sounded more like someone close to him was holding a pillow to their face and laughing rather than someone having a distant conversation. He scanned the courtyard again. There were people laughing. Of course people were laughing. The average person spends six minutes a day laughing, so it would make sense. But, this laugh sounded unfamiliar, and he knew everyone on the moonbase so well. He folded his fingers together as he listened closely. He didn’t know what he was expecting to hear.  
“Uh, you good there? Are you just gonna stare at the sky like it took your money, or are you gonna cast the spell.”  
“Shh! I’m listening.”  
“Well nothing’s gonna happen if you don’t cast the fucking spell.”  
“Shh!”  
He heard another snicker, but nothing else. After five minutes of just listening, he sighed, “I thought I heard something, sorry, sir” He looked around the courtyard one last time before finally turning his attention to his mentor, “So how does this ritual work again?”  
Taako knit his eyebrows together, but huffed and began to explain the ritual to Angus.  
…  
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on. But, Angus was a genius, so he was able to figure it out pretty quickly.  
He noticed from day one of knowing Taako that his umbrella would randomly omit static. There was a sort of pattern that he had stopped tracking a little while ago. It usually would create static when something funny was said or if Magnus, Merle, or Taako got hurt. That static would usually be louder, almost aggressive when that happened. But it acted almost as a social queue.  
It had become white noise eventually, just something that people were used to happening. Angus immediately noticed when the static stopped happening. That’s when he started hearing the voice. Usually it would be laughs when something funny was said or threats when Magnus, Merle, or Taako… Especially Taako was hurt. The voice was the static which means the voidfish uncovered it. But why was it hidden in the first place?  
…  
The more time he spent with Taako, he kept hearing the same voice. Usually it would just be laughing, though every now and again, he’d hear it yell at Taako. Angus never reacted because neither did anyone else. He figured that that was because he was the only one who had the voidfish ichor. Him and The Director. He had some speculation on what it might be. A ghost of some sort. A demon. Both equally frightening in their own ways. One of his least favorite theories was that it was one of The Grand Relics. That brought up a whole realm of possibilities that he was not too fond of. Were they immune to the thrall because they already had a Grand Relic, whether they knew it or not, and it was canceling it out? Maybe, but it would make more sense that the relics were more tempting around each other not any less. Was it trying to get others under the thrall? Was that why The Director was hiding it?  
...  
“Can I take up some of your time, ma’am?”  
The Director had been talking with Avi when Angus had entered. After a couple more words with the man, he left, and she turned to Angus, “I don’t have long. I’ve been meaning to talk with the regulators,” She sighed and searched the boy’s expression, “But how can I help you?”  
“What are all the Grand Relics again?”  
Her eyebrows furrowed, “Have you forgotten?”  
“No, I just wanted to make sure, so I’m looking for the right things.”  
“The Phoenix Fire Gauntlet, The Oculus, The Gaia Sash, The Philosopher's Stone, The Temporal Chalice,” She seemed to flinch before saying the next one, “The Animus Bell.” She allowed her hand to tightly clench around her staff.  
“That’s all? No others.”  
“There’s the seventh-”  
“What’s the thrall like?”  
The Director anxiously tilted her head to the side, “Why do you ask? Are you alright, Angus?”  
“It…” He picked at his fingernails anxiously, “Helps my detective work…”  
“It’s like being hypnotized. It appeals to any desire for power you might have....”  
He nodded diligently, “I think I’ll be on my way now. Thank you. Ma’am.”  
“O- kay… Are you sure you’re alright-”  
But he was already leaving. He allowed himself to think on his way back to his dorm. It didn’t sound like a relic. It wasn’t appealing to a deep want for power or anything like that. It just sounded like someone who was constantly following him around? Following Taako around? That may have been more concerning though. If it wasn’t a relic, that meant there was another reason for The Director to be hiding information which was a scary thought. If it was bad, certainly The Director wouldn’t be hiding it from them and allowing them to get hurt.  
As he continued to delve into his thoughts, the memory of the Umbra staff destroying his macaroons and carving letters into a wall surfaced. That definitely didn’t make him feel any better about anything that was happening.  
No matter the deduction, the voice was still terrifying. Logic didn’t change the fact that he was still only 10 years old. He couldn’t figure out why The Director was hiding this. Was there something evil following Taako around? He felt compelled to stick around Taako and make sure he didn’t get hurt, but he also wanted to keep himself safe. It lead him to mainly ignoring Taako, or at least, not talking to him upfront. Whenever he was around the elf, he’d keep an eye out from a distance. Nothing out of the ordinary from what he’d seen.  
...  
It was sometime in the afternoon that Angus woke up. He had spent most of the night trying to figure out what the voice was, why it was hidden, why it seemed fine sometimes and was carving letters into the wall other times. He had been spending a lot of his nights doing that lately. His hands were raw from how much he had anxiously rubbed them together.  
The detective and certified tired boy groggily got out of bed, almost tripping over a stack of books as he did. He decided then to go ahead and put on his glasses. A few minutes later, he had gotten completely ready, and was now just fiddling with his hat.  
He wasn’t looking forward to another day of endless research with the thought of a demon or some sort of magic being following Taako in the back of his mind. But, he’d have to do the research to crack the case, wouldn’t he? Except. First, he needed to get some breakfast...Lunch? He didn’t know the time of the day, but he didn’t think he could get away with skipping another meal.  
He saw Taako in the kitchen, bossing some of the cooks around. He tried to avoid him, instinctively plugging his ears the second he walked by. He had managed to avoid Taako noticing him for a little while, but, unfortunately for Angus, Taako did notice him this time.  
“Hey!” Taako’s voice was slightly muffled because of Angus holding his hands over his ears which only made him sound more like the voice he had been hearing. He panicked a bit and hurried to the table at the back of the room. It’s fine, he’d just wait until Taako left, he usually got bored with the cooks pretty quick.  
He set his bag down and pulled out the Caleb Cleveland novel he had been reading through and tried to put all of his focus into that. It was kind of difficult as his mind was determined to make him feel anxious.  
It took him until he tried to turn the page to realize that his book had been snatched out from under his arms.  
“What the fuck, Agnes?”  
Angus looked up and saw Taako standing over him, holding his book above his head. He clearly was annoyed with Angus which Angus wasn’t too peachy about but he smiled like he didn’t have a clue as to why Taako was upset.  
“Did I do something wrong, sir?”  
“Uh, yeah. You’ve been avoiding me for the last week like I’m the plague. And it was nice to be rid of you for a little while, but I want attention,” He huffed, throwing Angus’ book onto the table and crossing his arms.  
Angus listened closely but there was no other voice. He didn’t even have the Umbra Staff with him. Good, good, “I’m sorry, sir. I’ve been real busy lately,” He sighed and gestured to the chair next to him, “Lots and lots of research to do.”  
Taako took a seat next to Angus and kicked his leg over the other dramatically, “You’re forgiven. Just don’t fucking ignore for another week capiche?”  
He gave a little smile then nodded “Capiche,” He gave Taako a thumbs up and a bigger smile as his stomach proceeded to growl, “Did I miss anything cool?”  
“Well, yeah,” Taako scoffed, “Everything I do is cool. You’ll have to be a bit more specific.”  
He snickered, “Any highlights?”  
“Eh, not really. Merle tried shaving Magnus’ sideburns. Needless to say, it didn’t go well.”  
Angus laughed a little more as he imagined how that turned out. Before he could say anything, he was cut off by the sound of his stomach growling.  
“What? Have you not eaten in days?” Taako asked as he stood, pulling Angus to his feet as well, “Let’s go get you something to eat.”  
Angus nodded eagerly as he was pulled to the kitchen.  
Taako’s umbrella was sitting against the wall near the serving station. He must’ve left it there when he went to go bug Angus. He didn’t seem to notice it as he just pulled Angus up to the counter. Angus was happily getting his food when he heard an  
“Oh, god- that’s not… That’s no how you fucking do it. No, the garlic goes in after- who even allowed you in the kitchen?”  
Angus watched Taako’s mouth, but it wasn’t moving. Fantastic. He heard some more muffled critiques that he tried to drown out as he got his food.  
Taako grabbed the Umbra Staff as he walked back to the table. There was a, “You best be glad I’m stuck in here otherwise I’d kick your ass right out of the kitchen!” as they walked back to the table then a dramatic huff. The voice sounded an awful lot like Taako.  
“You know, sir, I’m not all that hungry. I think I’m gonna head back to my dorm.”  
“Nuh uh. You’re gonna eat because your stomach sounds like a dog that’s been chained up for days, and you know I’m not that fond of dogs.”  
Angus sighed and poked at his food, “Fine.”  
…  
He managed to keep up his promise, though he found himself asking Taako to leave the Umbra Staff behind because the static got to him. When he told Taako that, the voice from inside the umbrella often threw some sort of retort though Angus never reacted.  
Though it was still bothering him. It was bothering him a lot. He was afraid for his mentor, and he was very very curious.  
Needless to say, he went to the most responsible, level headed person that he knew, The Director. That, and she was one of the only people awake so late in the night. He had gotten himself worked up about it again, and there was just no way he could get sleep like that. He needed something to make him feel a little better about his own and his friends’ safety, and surely The Director heard the voice too.  
“Madam Director?” He asked timidly as he slowly entered her office.  
“Angus? What seems to be the problem? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” It’s very late.”  
Angus fidgeted as he approached the Director with teary eyes, “I know… I can’t sleep,” He took a shaky breath, “I keep hearing a voice. Specifically from the Umbra Staff. I-” Well he definitely couldn’t say he had snuck into her quarters and drinken the ichor, “I’m afraid it’s harmful.”  
The director's eyes widened. Lup. Lup, he had been hearing Lup. Doesn’t that mean? How? It would be suspicious to just ask the kid if he had drinken the ichor. So she nodded and let him continue.  
“Taako can’t hear it. Or Merle. Or Magnus,” He shook his head, “They can’t hear it, but I can. It doesn’t sound evil. Most of the time it’s just yelling at random people, mostly Taako. But it just randomly started happening,” He took a shaky breath, “And if it was the one that carved those letters into the wall-”  
The Director stood silently and walked towards him, “Here..” She waved her white oak staff, pretending to do some sort of magic that would give him the answer to what was going on, “It seems like someone is doing this as some sort of joke. A prank,” She sighed and took a seat, “And frankly, it doesn’t seem all that funny.”  
“It isn’t funny!” Angus agreed though he didn’t believe her. He was hoping to come there to get more than just a lie. He was hoping for answers. A confirmation on what he already believed maybe. He wasn’t getting that though. He found no comfort in being lied to, but he pretended to believe her anyway.  
“No. It isn’t, but you’re alright, Angus. Go get some sleep. You look like you need it.


	2. Until One NIght

Angus remembered The Director claiming that the voice he had been hearing was just a prank. He didn’t exactly believe her. The static didn’t just conveniently stop when the voice started because of some deliberate joke. He was still pretty confident in his original deduction, the Voidfish.  
Whatever was being hidden to the others didn’t seem to have some plan to hurt anyone as it usually just was making commentary. The main outlier was the time with the letters being carved onto the walls. L U P. But, nothing like that really happened again, so Angus allowed the voice to just become white noise as the static had.  
It had become white noise… Until one night.  
Until one night, Angus had a spell he had been dying to show his mentor. He’d been working on it for ages, but he thought he was finally ready to show Taako his attempts at the transmutation spell, Reduce.  
He knocked on the door. The noise filled the quiet hallways, but then it went quiet once again. No response from inside Angus wiggled the doorknob curiously. It was unlocked. He knocked once again, the hollow sound filling the halls once again. There was still no response.  
He knew that Merle was out on a secret mission, visiting his kids. Angus liked Merle’s kids, but he decided not to follow him this time. He’d seen Magnus spending a lot time in the voidfish’s chambers lately, and Taako had been seen a lot less since he had gotten a boyfriend. No one else knew he had a boyfriend, but Angus thought it was obvious. He just didn’t know who yet. That was a mystery for another day. Today’s mystery was if anyone was in the dorm.  
Angus’ hand still lingered on the doorknob, the other snug in his pocket, holding the magnifying glass he was planning to demonstrate his spell on. He’d even planned to make a little joke after shrinking it about how the magnifying glass was smaller than the things you use to look at. The joke had been tucked away in his head, waiting to be used until he was able to use the spell. So, he was understandably eager. He considered that maybe Taako hadn’t heard him or he was ignoring him to tease him again.  
He hesitated even knowing that they’d have the door locked if they didn’t want him inside. They wouldn’t be mad at him if he let himself inside this one time. Although he knew he’d end up apologizing until his throat was numb, he let himself inside. He quickly realized why no one wasn’t answering. Within the empty dorm, soft, muffled sobs eerily floated around. Between the hushed and sniffly cries, there was unintelligible mumbling. It certainly didn’t sound like Magnus. Besides, when Magnus cried it was loud and usually over the sight of a dog. There would always be some tearful begging to have a dog on the moon afterwards. If Merle was gone that left it up to Taako.  
“Mr. Taako….?” He called out as he searched the dorm. It was empty. After some adamant searching, he found himself where he started, very confused. The tired sobs didn’t seem to quiet themselves at all, “Taako…? Are you okay?” He called out again. No direct response, but the cries did catch with a shaky breath. Angus searched the dim light as he carefully pulled his wand from his bag.  
He heard a weak, “You can hear me?”  
“Who’s there?” He prodded, slowly approaching where he heard the voice from, in front of him. Was it in the walls? That was a terrifying thought.  
There was a silence.  
“Who’s there!” Angus demanded again, his voice brimming over with anxiety. The noise had stopped which meant he couldn’t follow it. His eyes scanned the room again, looking for possible culprits.  
“Um.”  
The detective’s eyes shot to where he heard the noise. Oh.  
“You aren’t gonna believe this,” The Umbra Staff sat against the wall. Taako must’ve left it behind. On closer inspection, the umbrella looked worn at the tip from the spells constantly cast from it. The handle showed signs of use. A vague handprint worn into the wood and from what Angus could see familiar letters that faded over the test of time. L U P.  
Their voice from within the Umbra Staff was still shaky, but it had a sort of confidence to it that reminded him a lot of Taako, “It’s a long story really. One that sounds like bullshit, but I’m a spirit… kind of. I think that’s the best way to describe it. And I’m kind of stuck inside the umbrella. And that makes no sense and you’re probably like “hey why hasn’t anyone let this rad spirit out of this umbrella” and that’s because no one can hear me. Which is a real bummer honestly. I give the best input. A real valuable source of knowledge. You can hear me though? So I sense some discrepancies.-”  
Angus sighed, his shoulders untensing a bit, “That’s what I thought,” He muttered as he tucked his wand back into his bag.  
“WHY IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK?!” There was a remnant of tears staining the voice, though it seemed to be recovering.  
“I’m a smart boy. Quick on my feet. I know what is and isn’t a spirit trapped inside an umbrella omitting static,” Angus giggled as he sat cross-legged in front of the Umbra Staff. He took it into his hand and ran his fingers across the hardly readable word engraved in the handle.  
“I don’t even think there’s an accurate way to respond to that.”  
“That was technically a response.”  
“Then that’s my response.”  
Angus smiled and set the umbrella against the wall, “Fair enough.” There was a small silence that was cut off by the voice saying a single word.  
“Lup.”  
Angus eyed the umbrella, “Lup?”  
“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out,” There was a small chuckle, “What am I saying? My name could never be worn out.”  
The detective whispered the spelling of the name under his breath. It was a name, this spirit’s name specifically.  
“Angus McDonald,” He said after a second of thought, “World’s Greatest Detective.”  
Lup laughed slightly when he stated his detective status, “Pleasure to meet you, Angus.”  
He smiled and nodded though he wasn’t entirely sure she could see him, “Pleasure’s mine! But, I have a question for you.”  
“Shoot.”  
“The Umbra Staff absorbs powerful magical users defeated in combat,” Angus noted, “You were defeated in combat against Taako?”  
Lup snorted at the question, and Angus could practically hear the smirk in her voice as she spoke, “Like Taako could beat me in combat.”  
“Taako’s a very accomplished magic user!” Angus protested, but she continued to laugh.  
“I never said he wasn’t! But transmutation is no match for explosions.”  
“Mmm, I think that-”  
“I’ve beaten Taako a million times before, I could totes do it again. Besides, I can control his magic focus. I could rig it.”  
“I feel like that’s cheating.”  
“Nothing’s cheating if you make the rules.”  
“Right….. back on track! If Taako didn’t kill you, how did you get trapped in there?”  
“You see, I made the umbrella, right?”  
“That would be why your name’s on it.”  
“Smart kid. And then, you see, I died in its general proximity.”  
“That would do it. Hey though! At least you’re alive.. Kind of?”  
Lup chuckled softly, “Well. If I hadn’t gotten absorbed by the umbrella, I just would’ve been a lich. And I would’ve had to wait like. Another cycle-” She stopped.  
“Another cycle?”  
“I forgot the hunger hadn’t attacked yet. If it’s gonna stay like that, I guess I’d stay a lich and infuriate Taako’s bf or I’d have to find a way to get a new body like Barold did.”  
Angus blinked rapidly, “What’s the Hunger? Who’s Barold? Why would your being a lich make Taako’s boyfriend mad? How do you know Taako has a boyfriend? I guess he does unkowingly carry you around with him… Do you know his boyfriend is? What do you mean by another cycle? You’re leaving me with so many questions Miss- Miss? Sir? Another title? I’m sorry I don’t mean to assume or-”  
“Lup’s good.”  
“Okay but like…”  
Lup snickered, “You sound like you’d be a teacher’s pet. Miss is good, I guess?” She laughed a little more, “But as of your questions. Oh boy do I have another long story for you. For one. My brother,”  
“Brother?”  
“-Is dating the Grim Reaper. And he didn’t take me along on the date tonight because I almost killed the guy. Glad I got across that I really didn’t want to be there. I know my brother simply can’t survive without me, but I don’t think I need to go along on dates with him. Besides. Kravitz seemed like a real stickler for the rules of life and death which is boring. Didn’t like my lich-y vibe”  
“You tried to kill death?!”  
“As for the whole Hunger thing. From what I gather, The hunger is a culmination of planes eaten by a middle aged man who got real angsty real quick. At least, that’s what I’ll say about John. I ignored most of Merle’s original description except for the basics because the rest of it was terrifying and something I’d like not to repeat. Barold, or Barry is my husband who’s also a lich and has done way more necromancy than me so if Kravitz should be all upset over anyone it should be him. He’s has died a couple times and is kind of angsty himself so I guess I can’t criticize Merle. Except I can because Barry became a lich for a good reason, John’s just a bitch.”  
“I’m so confused.”  
“You know how I said John eats the planes? Well me and the IPRE crew were able to get to the next plane before the Hunger could destroy the one we were on as long as one of us was alive and flew the ship. The next plane, or cycle, we’d all be back alive. Understand?” Lup chimed.  
“Not at all….” Angus blinked, “But this sounds so cool?”  
“Well little dude, strap in. Because I have a whole century to tell you about.”  
“Awesome!” Angus dug through his bag and pulled out a leather bound journal he kept with him at almost all times and prepared to write down everything she said.  
“Hey.” Lup laughed, “You look like Lucretia.”  
“What?”

...

Angus and Lup talked for about an hour though it felt like five minutes. It was a very interesting conversation. Lup told Angus quite a bit about when her and Taako were young. There were some funny stories. There were quite a few stories that matched up to some that Taako had already told Angus. The alignments were fascinating. Stories told from Lup’s perspective that didn’t much include her matched up almost perfectly with stories Taako told himself. Times at Taako’s aunt’s or stupid things he did when he was little. There were also some stories that he hadn’t heard of at all. Especially ones from the hundred years. That’s what they had forgotten wasn’t it?  
He remembered when Taako once told him that when he was little he used to think that there were two suns in the sky.  
Angus was too deep in conversation to realize when Taako walked into the dorm.  
“Uh, Ango?” The elf asked as he set down a bag, hung his hat up, and approached the Angus.  
Angus turned his head towards Taako and smiled, pushing himself onto his feet. He was about to greet Taako when Lup cut in, “Angus I need you to say something for me.”  
He listened intently to Lup’s words and repeated them carefully, matching her tone the best he could, “You’re dating the grim reaper?!”  
Taako’s eyes widened as he hurried towards Angus and cupped a hand over his mouth, “Let’s keep that on the down low, homie. No one knows.”  
Angus gave a nod and smiled smugly into Taako’s hand as Lup snorted with laughter.  
“Were you following me around?”  
Angus snickered and shook his head, pulling Taako’s hand away from his mouth, “Someone told me.”  
“Who?”  
With a grin, he waved his hand dismissively, “Unimportant, I was bound to figure it out anyway, sir.”  
“Unimportant?” Lup scoffed, “How dare you?”  
Taako crossed his arms, “Quick question, Pumpkin.”  
“Shoot!”  
“How long have you been alone? In my dorm? Talking to an umbrella?”  
“Five minutes?”  
“A little more than that,” Lup countered.  
“Half hour?”  
“Closer. An hour?”  
“Hour and a half maybe?”  
“Hour in a half seems about right.”  
Angus turned to address Taako again who looked very confused, “An hour and a half, sir!”  
Taako nodded slowly, trying to assess the odd situation, “Alright! Fair enough.”  
Lup was practically dying all over again from laughter.  
“So, Angus…. What brings you here. Other than to have a quality conversation with the Umbra Staff?”  
The little boy frowned, “I don’t remember.”  
“Well then what are you waiting for? Be on your way.”  
Angus nodded and started to make his way towards the door, squeezing his way past the elf before suddenly turning around and hugging Taako, “People care about you.”  
Taako blinked, “Okay…”  
“Shocking Development! Local wizard chef doesn’t kill child who hugs him!” Lup announced.  
Angus snickered as he pulled away from Taako, “I thought you should know.”  
“I feel like this conversation is about to get real sentimental, so I think I’m gonna cut you off there, Angus,” Taako pushed Angus a bit towards the door, turning his head slightly to get a short glance at the Umbra Staff, “I’m gonna get some fucking sleep and you’re probably gonna go do some nerd things. Cool?”  
“Have a nice night, sir!” Angus chimed as he left the dorm, leaving a wave towards the Umbra Staff that Taako pretended not to notice.


	3. Red Handed

Lucretia rounded a corner in the hallway. She had her hands carefully held behind her back and her mind racing a mile a minute. It had been about two weeks since Angus had approached her with the information that he had been hearing Lup from The Umbra Staff. Though, he didn’t know if he knew who was speaking or not, or she hoped he didn’t know. Lucretia had no wishes to lock Angus up as he was a child and everyone’s favorite seeker. Besides, he was a ten year old. How much damage could he do? Unfortunately, Lucretia was pretty sure she already knew the answer to that. But, regardless of everything else, he still broke into a clearly prohibited area.  
She walked down the hall, doors to dorms covering the wall. Her shoes made a rhythmic tap against the floor with every step. She made a sharp turn when she came close to Angus’ door. There was nothing to be heard inside the room, no rustling of papers or commentary on a book, just silence. Was he asleep? It was rare that the detective got to bed at a reasonable hour. Lucretia almost hesitated to knock.  
“Angus?” She called through the door after she knocked a couple times.  
Papers rustled and a small, “One second!” could be heard before a lot more papers rustling and a drawer being shut, and then there were finally footsteps.  
Angus opened the door and smiled up at Lucretia tiredly. There were barely visible bags under his eyes and he momentarily tore away from eye contact to clean off his glasses, “Hello, Madam director. It’s awfully late. Couldn’t sleep?” He asked as he rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back on.  
“I still have a couple things left to do until I can get any rest,” She smiled softly as she gestured to a chair haphazardly pulled away from the desk. When angus nodded, she sat , “Did I wake you?”  
“Oh no!” Angus made his way through his messy room, taking a seat on a stack of books near his bed, “I just dozed off a little bit while working! I think I’ve got a sort of idea of where-”  
As Angus rambled, Lucretia scanned over his desk. It seemed to be quickly organized as if he had been hurriedly trying to fix it up. He didn’t usually keep it organized though he insisted that he knew where everything was. There were quite a few papers that accounted stories of people who had gone through a game of torture. There were several marks that Angus made though Lucretia didn’t entirely understand his color coding system. Her eyes fell to the barely cracked open drawer. There was a journal that’s spine had a crease in it showing clear use. Papers sticking out of the journal could hardly be read through the crack she had to peer into the drawer, but she could barely make out the words “Merle told,” The writing hid under the page and the next and last words she could read were, “The Hunger.” She flinched and turned back to Angus.  
“Though in most of the reports, there’s always this black smog that’s-”  
“Angus, I wanted to talk to you about something else.”  
“Oh,” He glanced at the almost closed drawer and winced when he noticed it was still open, “What can I help you with, Ma’am?”  
She sighed, noting how nervous Angus seemed now, “I think we both know what I’m about to ask you.”  
Angus’s fingers tapped against his knees as he smiled an antsy smile, “I- And what’s that?”  
“Did you break into my private quarters?”  
Angus’s fingers stopped moving other than slowly flattening against his legs. He shook his head vigorously, “Why- why would I do that, Ma’am?” Though, they both knew definitively that he was lying. She knit her eyebrows together.  
There was a tense silence before Lucretia spoke up again. Her voice was slightly strained, “Did you drink the ichor?”  
Angus frowned, “Yes I did, but only out of pure curiosity, I promise! I didn’t even learn anything!” His fingers started moving again, anxiously going between folding together and pulling at the fabric on his pajamas, “No harm done!”  
“Curiosity isn’t an excuse, Angus. They were private quarters. Locked with a vault. That should give you the clue that you shouldn’t be in there. We have Robbie in jail for doing that. It’s a very serious predicament you’ve pulled yourself into. You’re so absorbed with finding answers that you don’t know the consequences of your actions.”  
“I may have been in the wrong… way in the wrong. And.. and I know there will be consequences,” He searched the floor for anything to look at other than Lucretia’s eyes, “But don’t you think there are going to be consequences for making them all forget? I may have been in the wrong by invading your privacy. I know that. But you took their memories away, and someone’s mind is just about as private as you can get.”  
Lucretia frowned, taking a moment before she spoke, “I have a plan, Angus.”  
“I heard about that plan actually,” He stood and stepped past her, opening the drawer and grabbing the journal. He flipped through the pages, “It was the plan you guys were gonna go with if the relics didn’t work out is what I have it written down as here,” He handed the book over to Lucretia for her to read the passage he had written.  
Lucretia took a small glance at the writing, but she just handed it back to him, “It will keep everyone safe, Angus, please. I know she’s probably told you that it’s a poor plan, but I promise, it’ll work! We’ll all be safe.” She stood and hurried over to Angus, putting her hands on his arms in an attempt at comfort, “I promise.”  
Angus glanced at her hands on his arms and sighed, pulling away and taking a seat on his bed. He brushed a coupled papers off of it and tucked his legs under the covers, “You’re plan scares me, Ma’am,” He muttered quietly as he took off his glasses and set them on his nightstand, “Can a please get some sleep now?” He asked hoarsely, “I think I’m a little worn out.”  
...  
Another talk with Lucretia. Except this time, Angus was initiating it. He decided to talk to her the next morning. He was needing to get some of the research he had done on the latest relic to her anyway.  
When he entered, The Director seemed very distraught. When she noticed him, she gave him a tired smile, “What can I help you with, Angus?”  
“I’m not a little kid. You can call me Mr. McDonald you know…” He frowned, “Nevermind, I heard that come out of my own mouth and I don’t like it. Angus is fine.”  
The Director smiled.  
“I just did actually have some research that I was needing to show you..” He flipped through a little notepad he had, “It seems like all the relics-”  
“Is Lup okay?” Lucretia cut in.  
Angus paused and closed his notepad, tucking it into his bag, “She got really upset at one point… because she made a joke… that I didn’t understand. I think she called it… a meme?’  
The Director sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose though she was smiling, “Did she call the umbra staff free real estate?”  
Angus gasped, “How did you know?”  
“I lived with her for a hundred years.”  
“I’ll tell her you got the joke then-“  
“Now, I never said I got the joke, I said I know the joke.”  
Angus blinked, “Oh okay!” He then sighed, “But … Lup is! Very mad. About. You being able to hear her, and totally ignoring her. And about a lot of the whole forgetting stuff,” He picked at his fingernails, “When I told her, she burned a hole in the wall. She’s steaming.”  
She sighed and nodded, “I see…” She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on her staff, “How much did she tell you?”  
“I mean, a lot. I think the most interesting thing other that… the whole adventure, was that your home plane was so similar to our’s. Also If you’re from an entirely different plane, does that make you aliens?”  
“Yes.” The Director confirmed in an emotionless voice, “And we come in peace.”  
Angus giggled, “Some of it was inference though. Like when she said Davenport was captain, I figured you had to feed a lot more about him to the voidfish.”  
When Davenport’s name was said, a voice came from a couple rooms away “Davenport!”  
The Director and Angus both winced.  
“…..How much did you feed the voidfish about him?”  
“More than I would have liked to.”  
He sighed, “Davenport seemed really happy, but knowing the actual story is very sad! I figured pretty easily that you set up the lives that Taako, Merle, and Magnus have here… I hope you didn’t intend on them going so poorly.”  
She nodded slowly.  
“You made the relics. And I know why you made them. But why did you make the light of creation into things that couldn’t be used to really mess up the world? The plan would’ve worked a whole lot better!”  
“That thrall makes anything destructive.”  
“Even pillows?! Would it make pillows destructive?”  
She couldn’t help but laugh, “It would make everyone really want to sleep.”  
“Everyone really wants to do that anyway,” The little boy snickered.  
“Yes, I suppose so.” The Director smiled.


	4. Confrontation

Lucretia was walking through the halls, speaking with Johann when she suddenly heard a blast from the Tres Horny Boys’ dorm. She jumped a bit when the loud sound rang out “I should probably make sure they aren’t going to burn down the Moon Base.”  
Johann glanced in the way of their dorm, “Yeah….” He sighed, “Sometimes I wonder… why they don’t have a babysitter.”  
Lucretia sighed, “That’s a very good question, Johann. We’ll continue our discussion on the voidfish once this is taken care of, alright?”  
Johann nodded and walked off in the direction of the Voidfish’s chambers as another loud blast sounded. Lucretia hurried towards the door, “Are you guys okay in there?”  
Magnus’ voice responded, “Uh?! Yeah!! Taako’s umbrella is freaking out! Could you Uh, help?”  
Lucretia winced as she heard Lup’s very muffled voice say something like “WE NEED TO TALK!”  
“Lot’s of static, Director! I think we need to kill it!”  
“Okay okay,” She said in a stern but calm voice as she entered the room, “It’s fine, let me just take it and I can try to get it under control where it won’t hurt anyone.”  
“Lay a motherfucking finger on me and Magnus gets it,” Lup protested but Lucretia rolled her eyes.  
“You wouldn’t hurt Magnus.”  
“So you can hear me!”  
Magnus’ eyes kind of widened as he tossed the umbrella he was apparently having a hard time keeping a hold of on the floor, “Is it gonna try to kill me?!”  
“No it was an empty threat. Magnus could you take a seat on your bed?” She made a gesture to his bed and when he sat, Lucretia waved her staff and he instantly fell asleep.  
“No, I wouldn’t hurt Magnus.” Lup confirmed as the man snored, “But if you try to hide me I swear to god, I’ll hurt you.”  
“I’m not trying to be the bad guy.”  
“Well you’re definitely failing at being the good guy! You had to knock out Magnus because you couldn’t tell him that his friend of a hundred years was occupying the umbrella.”  
“Look, they can’t remember yet, I’m trying to-“  
“If it really was a good thing, Lucretia, then they could remember. Why can’t they remember if you’re doing a good thing?”  
“Because they were against it! All of you were against it! But we’re causing so much destruction!”  
“Why do you think we were against it?”  
“The plan you went for has caused wars! You went missing trying to stop it! Certainly you know that it’s time to try mine. It didn’t work. It’s time to try mine,” She insisted but Lup shouted back.  
“You didn’t answer my question! Why do you think /all of us/ were against it?! Why a 10 year old was against it?!”  
“You shouldn’t have brought Angus into this!”  
“Brought Angus into what?” A voice asked behind them, Taako.  
“Oh jeez, what happened to the big guy?” Merle asked, following in behind Taako.   
Lucretia sighed as Lup continued to scream from inside the umbrella. “The umbra staff was recklessly and unexplainably casting and accidentally cast sleep on Magnus.”  
“YOU’RE LYING! THAT’S A LIE!” Lup cried out. But only Lucretia could hear her.   
Taako raised an eyebrow as his voice got a little louder, “Brought Angus into what?” He repeated.  
Lucretia frowned, “Taako, it’s noth-“  
“Brought Angus into what?!” He repeated. His trust was so hard to get and so quick to be lost. And Lucretia was losing it quickly.   
She stepped back instinctively, her small, anxious side threatening to take over, “You must’ve misheard-“  
Taako glared, But Merle set a hand on his arm, “Calm down, Buddy. Training must’ve got to you.”  
Taako scoffed and pushed past Lucretia. He didn’t do anything. Just picked up his umbra staff and fell onto his bed.  
Lucretia was quick to leave.


	5. Dreams

It was the middle of the night when Taako heard someone knocking on the door. He groaned and pulled the pillow over his ears, curling tighter under his covers. Lucky for him, Magnus answered. He heard some slightly muffled give and take between him and a high pitched voice, likely Angus. It ended in, “Sure little man, come on in.”  
The noises in the room were average, Merle snoring, Magnus grunting as he crawled back into bed, the rustling of pages and of course the words,  
“I know you’re awake. Your ears twitch every time I turn a page.”  
Taako groaned and rolled over, “Hey, Agnes.” He muttered tiredly, “Couldn’t sleep?”  
Angus McDonald sat on the foot of Magnus’ bed. He was in his pajamas that were a tad too big for him. His hair wasn’t too messy other the indent of where his hat was. Taako figured he probably hadn’t been sleeping much or at all. He always sat on Magnus’ bed. They had an empty bunk bed above Taako. Maybe he didn’t know he was welcome to use it. More likely he just wanted to sit by someone who could protect him. More likely, he wanted to cuddle with Magnus. Fair enough.  
“No, not really. Thought I could do some writing in here… is is that okay?”  
“Yeah do whatever, kid. I’m not your mom.”  
Taako found his ears twitching rapidly when the umbra staff omitted static. He found his ears twitching more when Angus laughed at it. What the hell was he laughing at.  
“What’s so funny?” He asked in an attempted curious tone though it sounded more accusatory. He hated being laughed at.  
“Oh. Something I read.”  
Taako frowned but decided to pretend to believe the kid. He said he was writing then said he laughed at something he read. He was lying. A lot of people lied. Taako included, “Hm.” He rolled back over and his eyes scanned the wall for an imperfection in the paint. He fell asleep to static and the sounds of pages turning.  
…  
“Taako, you good?”  
“Hm? Yeah I’m fine.” Who was talking to him? The voice sounded familiar, like his own, though it was also like he couldn’t hear it at all.  
“Are you sure because I’ll get Merle in here with some Zone of Truth and you’ll be dropping the truth like it’s cussing and you just stubbed your toe.” Where was he anyway? Was it his room? It didn’t look like his room. Then again, he could hardly make out the scene around him.  
Taako laughed, “No need.”  
“So. If I got him right now to cast Zone of Truth. You’d say you’re fine? Fit as a fiddle? Cool as a cucumber?”  
“Don’t get Merle.”  
“Why not, huh? Afraid of what you might say?”  
“Yeah, afraid I might accidentally tell you what’s actually under my bed.”  
“GROSSOROONI. I CANNOT BELIEVE MY OWN-“ Were they talking from behind the door?  
“It’s all my cookbooks. Oops looks like I told you anyway. Guess you’ll gain nothing.” Taako chuckled again as he blew on his newly painted fingernails.  
“Way to give me a heart attack.”  
…  
“Taako we need to go! They’re coming!” Was that Barry Bluejeans? Weird how he kept showing up in Taako’s dreams. Uncomfortable really.  
“I can hold them off! Get Magnus back!” Taako found himself blasting at something he couldn’t make out. His side hurt with an indescribable pain. His hands were shaking, and he could barely keep ahold of his wand. He didn’t know why he wasn’t leaving. He wasn’t good out there.  
“Taako you’re going to die!” Barry insisted.  
“It’s about time I catch up on my death count! Can’t have you guys showin me up!“ He felt himself being shoved into Barry as someone he couldn’t make out stepped in front of him and started blasting whatever he had been working on killing.  
“I’ve got this, babe.” Is what they said to Barry with a confidence that seemed familiar a voice that seemed familiar, “Get Taako and Mags back to-” The voice was suddenly cut off.  
Taako didn’t know what was happening. But all of the sudden both the most unclear and vivid thing happened. Whoever was in front of him? Whoever took over. They died. They were pierced with some sort of magic? He didn’t know why? But it was one of the most painful things he had ever experienced. The figure gasped painfully but it shakily held up it’s hand, giving a thumbs up as it dropped a wand.  
“Taako! You know she’ll be okay! We need to go!”  
Taako felt like he was being dragged away from the scene as he saw the figure collapse onto the ground and a robed figure slowly starting to manifest. It wasn’t screaming. But he was.  
He was screaming a name.  
A name he couldn’t understand.  
He was pulled out of sleep by an insistent, “Sir, what did you just say?”  
Angus’ voice was almost drowned out from desperate screeching static from the umbra staff.   
“I-” Taako glanced around groggily, rubbing his eyes.”  
Static poured endlessly from the umbra staff. A sea of noise that the room was beginning to drown in. Taako grabbed his ears to make the static stop. It just became muffled which was somehow more annoying.  
Angus didn’t seem to phased by it though, “Taako what did you say?”  
“STOP!” Taako screamed as the static got louder. To his surprise. It actually stopped. He was breathing heavily, “What the fuck,” He grumbled as the umbrella obeyed his command at silence.  
“What did you say?” Angus repeated.  
“I don’t know, Angus.” He muttered tiredly, letting his head fall in his hands.  
Angus scrambled off Magnus’ bed and hurried to Taako’s. He leaned his hands on to it, shifting the mattress slightly, “Did you say-“ Static came from Angus’ mouth.  
“STOP WITH THE STATIC. STOP- JUST STOP FOR TWO GODDAMN SECONDS! STOP.”  
Angus kind of jumped. He jerked his hands away from Taako’s bed and wrapped his arms around himself, “Oh- I’m sorry, sir, I thought- I’m sorry! I thought you could hear- I’m sorry.”  
“No, don’t.” Taako groaned, “I didn’t mean to yell.”  
“It’s okay,” Angus squeaked.  
“You alright?” Merle asked from his bed, “Angus why the fuck are you in my house.”  
“I’m sorry, Sir.” His eyes shot to the floor, “I should’ve talked to you too. I’m sorry…”  
“Didn’t mean to offend you, jeez.” Merle grumbled as he awkwardly climbed off his bed and waddled over to the two of them, “Come on.”  
“What are we doing?” Angus asked.  
“We’re all gonna cuddle with Magnus.”  
Taako scoffed, “No.” But he was already following Merle and Angus over to Magnus’ bed.  
When Magnus was woken up, he just smiled and made enough room for the all of them. Taako curled up at the foot of the bed like a cat, Merle sprawled himself out over Magnus’ stomach, and Angus just laid under the covers next to Magnus.  
Taako picked up Angus’ book that had fallen onto the floor when he had jumped off the bed. He looked at it for a minute then tiredly set it aside. He stared at the wall for a minute, apparently bringing his hands up to his ears at one point. He felt like he was crying without tears and without noise. No worries, the static from The Umbra Staff plenty made up for the whimpers Taako didn’t shed. Why did something feel wrong? Why did he feel in the wrong world completely?  
Despite the unwanted thoughts, he still managed to get to sleep at some point.  
…  
Lup spent the night trying to figure out why her brother had screamed her name with so much anguish. Did he remember? If she told Angus to break the umbra staff right now, would he remember? She decided not to get her hopes up when all he heard was static. Her voice felt hoarse from screaming her brother’s name until he had gotten overwhelmed. She would give anything for him to remember her. She just wanted her family back.  
“TAAKO!” She sobbed one last time, but he was sleeping serenely now. She couldn’t interrupt that.


	6. Breakfast

Angus woke up when Magnus stirred.  
“Sorry for waking you, kid.” He whispered.  
“It’s alright, sir! Sorry for waking you up.. twice. Last night.”  
The man quietly chuckled as he lifted Merle off himself without waking him. Merle was always a heavy sleeper, “It’s no problem, Ango, you know that. You can get me when you need me.”  
He smiled, “Thank you, sir.”   
“About ready to get up?”  
“Yeah, I’ve been awake for a little while anyway,” He lied as he got up along with Magnus.  
“Uh huh. Well, that’s pretty cool considering how late you finally got to bed.”  
He laughed anxiously, “I was doing some writing!”   
“I know,” He ruffled Angus’ hair before handing him his glasses that had fallen onto the floor at some point during the night.  
Angus carefully put them on and let out a breath as the room became clear. It was concerning how quiet Lup was being though that thought stayed at the back of his mind for now, “What time is it?”  
“6 ish.. Probably.”  
“Jeezy Creezy, sir!” Angus, go to sleep at 4 am wake up at noon, Mcdonald exclaimed, “You wake up this early every day?”  
“On lazy days I sleep in till nine.”  
Angus looked both awed and disgusted by Magnus’ sleeping habits, “What time do you go to bed?”  
“7. 8. Maybe?” He gave angus a glance before starting his morning stretches.  
Angus blinked rapidly as if this was the most shocking thing he had heard, “The Director stays up later than you.”  
Magnus kind of laughed then shrugged, “I like a good night’s sleep.”  
Angus shook his head, laughing to himself, “Ooookay then.”  
Angus heard a small, tired laugh from the umbrella. Okay.. she was alright..  
“Can you two shut the fuck up!” Taako grumbled into his pillow.  
Magnus and Angus both snickered.  
“Yeah sorry Taako-“  
“Yeah, sorry sir.”  
Magnus finished his stretching, then turned to Angus, “You up for some breakfast?”  
Angus usually didn’t wake up in time for breakfast, so it would be like a learning experience. He nodded.  
“Great.” Magnus chimed as he picked up Angus and hoisted him onto his shoulders like it was nothing, “Let’s go.”  
...  
Magnus anxiously watched the boy as he practically devoured his omelet, “Hungry?”  
“I guess so! I didn’t feel hungry until I started eating.”  
Magnus laughed softly, “Fair enough.” He sighed and took a couple more bites out of his food, “Were you having nightmares again?”  
The boy detective frowned, “No.” He said through a mouthful of egg, “I just couldn’t sleep.”  
“Did you try to get to bed?”  
“Yes! I tried really hard, but I just couldn’t,” He lied.  
Magnus tapped the table. He really did worry about Angus and he was a lot more open about it than the other boys, “You should probably start going to bed a little earlier.”  
“But,”  
“You’re awake the same amount of time. You’re just waking up at better times.”  
“Taako and Merle-“  
“Taako and Merle aren’t good role models.”  
The kid huffed, “Okay okay… I’ll go to bed earlier.”  
Magnus knew that was a lie, but he accepted it, “Alright! Well, I’m taking a trip to Fantasy Costco pretty soon, if you want to come with.”  
“No thanks, sir! I have to do something today.”  
“And what’s that?”  
“I can’t tell you.”  
“Why not?”  
“I literally can’t tell you.”  
Magnus sighed, but smiled softly, “Whatever it is, stay safe.”  
Angus nodded and smiled back, “Will do!”


	7. The Wrong Time

Angus slipped into Taako’s dorm sometime in the afternoon. He had specifically waited for Merle to leave. He sat, reading a book, until Merle eventually left the dorm. As Merle walked by, he slapped the back of Angus’ book, making him fumble with it. Angus stood as he watched Merle disappear down the hallway and turned into the dorm.   
“Mister Taako?”  
Taako turned towards Angus groggily, “I just can’t get rid of you.” He was tying his hair in a messy braid and barely looked ready for the day. There were bags under his eyes and he was still in what he was wearing the night before.  
“What was your nightmare about last night?”  
“Angus, don’t.” He heard from the umbrella. He ignored it.  
“I don’t want to talk about it,” He frowned, “I don’t even remember it anyway so it doesn’t matter.”  
“You woke up screaming, but you don’t remember?”  
Taako clenched his fist, “No, I don’t.”  
“I’m gonna fix that,” He promised.  
“Angus.” He heard Lup’s voice as stern as she could manage, “I told you. Not until they remember.”  
Taako knit his eyebrows together “What do you mean? You a dream walker, kid?”  
Angus grabbed the umbra staff from where it was laying against the wall  
“Just-“ He held it up like a bat, “Wait.”  
“Angus please don’t-“ Lup was begging now, “He doesn’t-”  
But despite her pleas, Angus prepared to slam the umbrella into the wall, “If you’re here, she’ll be forced to make him remember,” He muttered.  
“Angus!” Lup protested as The Umbra Staff hit the corner of the wall.  
“WHAT THE FUCK KID-“  
A bright red light shot through the room. Taako instinctively grabbed Angus and protectively pulled him close. It took a minute for the room to be the normal amount of red light.  
A skeleton in a red robe appeared in the room that looked between Taako and Angus anxiously. That’s what Angus saw.  
Taako. Saw a floating red robe. A bad guy. It wasn’t a huge jump to figure out that the static that Angus had been responding to for so long was a red robe.   
“Taako..” Lup whispered, “Please-“  
“Get out.” Taako hissed. The hurt on Lup’s face when Taako looked at her like she was some sort of demon was unbearable.  
“I swear to you, Taako, this isn’t what I had planned to happen,” Lup promised desperately. Angus searched Taako’s face for some sort of recognition. Nothing.  
“It’s gonna be okay. She’ll be forced to make him remember. It’ll be alright,” He promised as tore away from Taako and ran to Lup, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Taako reached out for him but didn’t manage to grab him.  
Lup didn’t move. She just stared at her brother, wishing she could hug him and tell him that it was gonna be okay and wishing she could tease him for going on a date when he was supposed to be talking business.   
“Get away from him!” Taako demanded as he grabbed Angus’ arm. Though, the boy held onto Lup tighter.  
“We need to get the director,” Angus explained, glancing over at Taako.  
Lup finally glanced down at Angus, “Good idea,” She said with a shaky breath.  
“Let me do the honors,” Taako said as he stared Lup down. He grabbed his stone of far speech from the dresser, “Madam Director? Get to my dorms. We have a red robe in our midsts.”  
All that could be heard before Taako hung up was a quiet, “oh no..”  
…  
Lucretia walked into the room and not to her surprise, saw Lup. Her first action was to timidly point at the broken umbra staff and mutter, “It’s free real estate.” To make Lup feel better.  
Lup scoffed, “Lucretia. I thought you were bae. It turns out you’re just fam.”  
“What are these static words you’re saying?!” Taako, who had forgotten the plane of existence that they learned memes and the memes along with it, screamed.  
“Look what you did to him!” Lup demanded, gesturing to him desperately.  
Angus just looked at Taako and shook his head, “I can understand them, and I’m more confused than you are.”  
Lucretia sighed, “Lup, listen.”  
“I don’t want to listen! I want my brother back! I want my husband back! I want my friends back!”  
“I’m sorry, Lup. I’m so sorry.” Lup actually wasn’t expecting an apology. She was expecting an excuse she could tear down.  
“Are you? Are you sorry? So sorry?” She clenched her fists, “Are you so sorry for making my own brother forget me?! For me having to go through the pain that is hearing him wake up screaming my name only to hear static when I try to scream back? Or are you sorry that it didn’t work out how you wanted it to?! Because sorry isn’t damn enough, Lucretia! It doesn’t make up for the hundred years lost! A hundred years is a lot of time! What gives you the right?!”  
Lucretia shook her head, pulling her staff closer to herself, “I’m sorry- I’m sorry,” She had tears falling down her face.  
Taako looked at Angus, “What’s happening?”  
“The Director’s being told off,” He explained as he stepped away from Lup and allowed Taako to pull him towards him.  
Lucretia sent a look towards Angus and Taako then looked back at Lup, “I’m trying to keep them safe!”  
“You don’t get to make that choice! You made them trust you. They already trusted you! But you had to go and make them forget. I want my brother back! I want my husband! My friends!” Lup repeated, tears stinging her red hot cheeks.  
Lucretia took a breath, “I don’t know where Barry is.”  
“Did he not fall for this?” Lup snapped sarcastically, “Did you lie to them, tell them that Barry damn Bluejeans was a bad guy because he didn’t fall for your shit?!”  
Lucretia winced.  
“You’re not the one who had everyone and everything taken away from you! Davenport hardly knows anything more than his name! That’s humiliating! What was your plan if the hunger came back? If it destroyed the voidfish, you couldn’t make them remember! You’d go to the next plane and there’d be no way to make them remember what was going on. And you couldn’t tell them either! You know fisher’s affects travel through the planes!”  
Lucretia’s eyes widened at the thought as she pulled her staff even closer, “I’m gonna cut them off!”  
“No you’re going to kill everyone!”  
“I’ll let him remember!” Lucretia exclaimed out of pressure.  
“Then do it.” Lup demanded.  
Lucretia shakily turned towards Taako, “Follow me.”  
“No, what’s going on?!” The elf demanded.  
“You’ll understand everything.. just.. follow me.” Lucretia sounded so so tired.  
…  
Taako barely had time as he was dragged at lightning speed to Lucretia’s living quarters. Angus insisted on coming along, but the red robe had to stay behind, muttering something about already being weak enough from the holy symbol.  
In her quarters, he saw a picture with seven faces. His own, Merle’s, Magnus’, Barry’s (though it was a little foggy), Davenport, a much younger Lucretia, and one he couldn’t make out.   
“I’m in that picture,” He muttered, he didn’t remember taking it. His ears twitched as static came from a tank behind him. He couldn’t see anything in it. Just a bright light. Lucretia walked close to him, only stopping to disable the holy symbol floating on her desk.  
Lucretia was quiet and she was shaking as she slowly handed Taako a small vial of the ichor. He closed his eyes and downed it.   
“Taako, no sit down!” Lucretia warned. But it was too late.  
He stumbled a bit as memories flooded back, and static suddenly made sense in his mind. A hundred year journey, the times he died, the hunger, his sister going missing, almost finding her before forgetting, his sister screaming at him from the umbra staff. He heard conversations he only heard as static before. He remembered her calling him Angus’ mom just the night before and Angus laughing. So he was laughing at him.  
He stared at the wall, “I want to see my sister,” he muttered.  
Angus glanced at Lucretia and smiled, “Let’s go see your sister then!”  
…  
As Taako entered the dorm, he saw his sister, floating back and forth and quietly whispering to herself. Each mutter made Taako’s ears twitch. His first words to her were, “I’m not Angus’ mom.”  
It was quiet for a moment before his sister laughed, hurrying up to him and tightly wrapping her arms around him, “Sure you aren’t, Taako.”  
“I’m sorry, Lup,” He whispered.  
“You’d better fucking be.”  
He suddenly pulled away, “THAT’S WHY I HAD SO MANY DREAMS WITH BARRY THANK GOD! I THOUGHT MY BRAIN WAS TRYING TO REVEAL SOME ATTRACTION TO THAT SON OF A BITCH THROUGH ANGST DREAMS.”  
Lup burst out laughing. It was unclear if that’s why she was crying or the moment itself, “Oh, god, bro, that is a fantastic thought.”  
He was quiet for a moment, “We would have found you.”  
“What?”  
“We were about to look in Wave Echo Cave. We would’ve found you if we hadn’t forgotten.” Taako shot a glare at Lucretia and pulled away from Lup’s arms, “We would have found her. I didn’t have my sister for that long because of you,” He hissed.   
“Taako, I-“  
His fingers twitched as he focused his magic into them, “Don’t try to explain yourself. I get it,” He huffed as his fingers continued to light up, “You just wanted to play god. Two can play at that game!”  
Lucretia stepped back, “Taako, listen-“  
“Taako!” Angus stood in front of Lucretia, “There are a lot of emotions right now and it’s probably not a good idea to make big decisions until you’ve calmed down a bit.”  
“Angus move.”  
Lup put her hand on Taako’s shoulder, “Trust me, bro. I get the anger, but let’s not kill her. We can just,,, put seran wrap over all the doors later.”  
Taako slowly lowered his hands, “I think I need a nap.”  
“Oh good, bro. Because me too.”


	8. Remembering

Magnus and Merle walked in on the following scene. There was a red robe sprawled out haphazardly on Taako’s bed, snoring away. Taako somehow fit perfectly, filling the empty spaces on the bed like it was a puzzle piece. The red robe and flip wizard were holding hands as they slept.  
“Um.” Magnus looked over at Merle, “What do we do?”  
“We walk away slowly.”  
“No,” Magnus shook his head, “Taako might get hurt. We were told to alert the Director immediately if we saw one of these guys again… right?”  
“Right.”  
“Okay, So-“  
Merle blinked, “Oh right!” He pulled his stone of farspeech from his pocket and started a call with Lucretia. Before he could say anything, she spoke.  
“Is it a red robe?” She asked tiredly as if she had already had the conversation before.  
“Yeah! How did you know?” Merle asked as Magnus eyed the figure laying with Taako suspiciously.  
There was a frightened sigh from Lucretia’s side, “I’m on my way.”  
Angus’ voice could distantly heard, “Do you want me to get the vials ready, ma’am?” Then the call was ended  
—  
Lucretia came into the room a couple moments later, following her was Angus and Davenport. Angus held two vials in his hand. The both looked about the same, and he seemed to be patiently waiting to be told to hand them over. Davenport was showing more expression than he usually would. That expression was anger. He was glaring intensely at the Lucretia who seemed to be slowly cracking under his gaze.  
“Hi, Angus, Davenport!” Magnus chimed with a little wave, still refusing to tear his eyes from the sleeping red robe.  
Angus smiled and waved back.  
Davenport gave an acknowledging nod, “Magnus, Merle.”  
That made Magnus’ eyes jump from the potential bad guy to Davenport, “You know my name!”  
This made Davenport shoot Lucretia another glare that made her wince, “Yes.” He confirmed, “I do know your names.”  
Merle and Magnus stared at the gnome in shock, Merle finally speaking up again, “You know more words!”  
“Right.”  
“Yesterday you only knew your name!” Merle continued.  
Davenport sighed and made a gesture to Angus, muttering, “Just,” He sighed, “Drink the ichor.”  
Lucretia put her hand in front of Angus before he could hand it over, “Magnus, Merle, you should probably sit down. This is gonna be.. a lot.” She hesitated, but moved her hand away from Angus who smiled and handed the vials over.  
“Here you go, sirs!”  
Magnus downed the thing without a second thought. Merle raised an eyebrow and drank it slowly like he was seeing if it was poisoned. They both stumbled at the amount of memory suddenly hitting them.  
“I’m sorry,” Lucretia whispered, her will to hold back tears suddenly collapsing as several came rolling down her cheeks, “I’m sorry.”  
Merle fell back into Magnus’ bed, holding his as he muttered a couple things to himself. Magnus was lucky enough to keep his footing as all these memories suddenly hit him.  
Davenport watched the two of them carefully, making his way over to Merle when he fell back. Angus followed after with a small, “Are you okay?”  
“Lucretia,” Magnus muttered.  
“I’m sorry, I- I’m sorry.” Her voice sounded choke, with each word it got smaller, quieter. She was surprised when she felt Magnus’ arms wrap tightly around her.  
“I know.” He whispered.  
Lucretia froze in Magnus’ arms there for a moment before collapsing into them and sobbing, muttering unintelligible apologies.  
There was a difference between forgiveness and kindness, and Magnus knew that. Magnus knew that being cold could be done later. So, he held Lucretia until she had no tears left to cry. Or at least until Taako woke up.  
“Do you guys literally have to make all the noise in the world? You guys better shut up or knock me out because I want sleep and you’re over there with your mumbling and you’re over there with your ugly crying.”  
“Hey woah!” Merle protested, “Lup’s snoring like her life depends on it.”  
“Don’t talk bad about my sister, Highchurch.” Taako glared at Merle, noticing Davenport soon after, “Oh hey Cap’nport.”  
“Hi, Taako.” He answered tiredly.  
“Oh hey! You remember. I’m glad otherwise you’d probably be pretty confused as to why I called you Cap’nport. Hey Lup,” Taako shoved his sister who just snored louder, “LUP.” The elf resorted to pushing his sister off the bed which did in fact wake her up, “Davenport remembers.”  
Lup tiredly scanned the room. When she noticed Davenport, she kind of smirked, “What’s up Dad’nport.”  
Davenport pinched the bridge of his nose though he was smiling, “The ceiling, Lup, the ceiling is up.”  
“Eyyy!” Lup grinned, “You remembered the joke!”  
There was soft, still tired, snickering from Lucretia, snort filled laugh from Merle, some chuckling from Magnus, and an utter look of disappointment from Taako.  
“Yeah, I did remember the joke,” Davenport sighed, “I guess we should get a plan together.”


	9. Detectiving

Angus, who had been quiet most of the time, started listening intently. He turned his attention to who was talking, ignoring background noise and distractions. He analyzed the way they acted with every word and each response. He wanted to know everything, but he often wasn’t told anything. So, he was used to just inferring it.  
“The relics have been working so far,” Davenport pointed out, “The Hunger hasn’t found us yet, and it’s been a while.” Angus noted how agitated Davenport seemed like he expected something bad to happen at any moment.  
“But they’ve been causing wars,” Lucretia argued, “This plane will destroy itself with our creations.”  
“Then we’ll have to go on to the next plane, try again,” Davenport retorted tiredly. The thought of them abandoning everyone on this plan to some sort of monster terrified Angus, but he continued listening.  
“Guys,” Magnus interjected anxiously, “Barry’s the sciencey one. I bet he could be a lot of help in this situation, maybe we should find him first.” Angus’ eyes lit up at the opportunity to find someone, be helpful to the situation.  
Lup nodded, though she might have already been a little biased to finding Barry.  
“I don’t know, but whatever we do? I’m not leaving this plane,” Merle muttered.  
Davenport held his head in his hands for a moment, “Yeah, let’s find Barry.”  
“Ooh!” Angus finally spoke up, “I can help find him! I’m good at finding people! Oh please let me help.”  
“It’s agreed then,” Lup stood, “Me and the kid will go find Barry everyone else get some rest hm?”  
“Good by me!” Taako cheered as he readily fell back onto the bed.  
“No-“ Angus interjected, “Actually I need to ask some questions first.”  
Taako waved his hand dismissively, “You’re the world’s greatest detective. You can figure it out without our help.”  
But, Lucretia turned to Angus with a soft, tired smile, “What can we help you with?”  
…  
“So have we got enough to find him yet?” Lup asked as they left the dorm. They heard some arguing that was cut off by Magnus telling everyone to calm down. Lup had gotten quickly bored with trying to question the others, so she was often the result of Angus not being able to get the answer he needed. But by now, the ten year old had a journal full of some helpful and some not helpful evidence to go off of.  
“I mean, I guess. But it would be kind of dangerous to look for a necromancer without as much information as we can scavenge together. Most of them are very dangerous, you know,” He explained as he continued through the hallways, “I’ve had a couple close calls with Necromancers myself. I’d prefer to be prepared.”  
Lup groaned, “What else do we have to do?”  
“A couple things. We have quite a bit of information right here, but a lot of it can’t help me. I just didn’t want to be mean and tell them I needed information that specifically applies to this plane. But we do have some good stuff. Like,” He opened up his book, “Magnus said they had saw him on one of their adventures and that he spotted some weird prophecy. If he’s following them around, there’s a good chance he’s been on or is currently on the moon base. So, I’m gonna look into some anomalies here. That’s why I asked Lucretia about things like that,” He flipped through a few pages in his book, “Like she said that Robbie broke into her chambers, but doesn’t recall a lot of it and claims to have been possessed.”  
Lup interrupted Angus’ rambles with laughter, “Oh boy, that sounds like something my husband would do.”  
Angus smiled and nodded eagerly, “And he would have reason to. It would make sense that he would be going to each of his crewmates. It would make more sense that he was going to the one that made everyone forget to get his crewmates and wife back.”  
“Adorable.”  
Angus laughed a little bit, “I guess. Now, if he’s not on the moonbase, a problem is presented,” He turned a corner then turned again. In front of them was a door that had the plaque “Angus Mcdonald” Like Taako, Merle, and Magnus’ room had the plaque “Tres Horny Boys.” He handed his book to Lup before unlocking his door, “We don’t have much of a way of knowing if he’s in his Lich form or his human form. We’d be more lucky if he’s in his Lich form.”  
“And why’s that?”  
“Because he won’t remember otherwise.”  
Lup’s shoulders dropped, “Oh.” She muttered, “Right.”  
“Hey, don’t get all sad! Your husband sounds pretty smart. I’m sure he has a plan set in place for when he’s not a Lich,” He reassured her as they entered his very chaotically organized room.  
Books scattered the floor next to his desk. Drawings of things of interest (including the umbra staff) were haphazardly stacked on a chair in the corner. His desk was cluttered with bottles of ink and quills and replacement quills. There were several journals that weren’t written in yet that sat on his desk, waiting to be filled up. His bookshelf seemed organized by color. Each journal had a piece of tape. Each journal black tape were put together, each with yellow were put together, etc. He also had another bookshelf next to his bed with every Caleb Cleveland novel. His bed was unmade and covered with books.  
“Jesus Christ kid, it looks like a library threw up all over your room.”  
Angus laughed softly, “Please be careful where you step.” The boy weaved through the messy room until he got to his bookshelf. He ran his thumb across the tape until he got to the beginning of the black taped journals. He took the six journals out of the bookcase that were marked with black tape and handed them over to Lup, “This is all the information I have about necromancy and those who practice it. Barry doesn’t seem like he’s done anything.. too harmful. Other than the whole.. possession thing. If I have anything about him, it’ll be in the third journal. That’s where I keep necromancy cases that I have for when I’m bored.”  
Lup blinked then burst out laughing, “You have throw away cases for when you just feel like catching necromancers?”  
“Yeah! It’s like a puzzle you have stored in your closet for a rainy day. I have a couple of those too.”  
“Your imagination is wild, kid.”  
Angus frowned, “Imagination? You do know I’m a real detective, right?” He opened the drawer of his dresser and pulled out two badges. One of them had a bureau of balance symbol on it the other just looked like a normal badge, “This one is for the moon and this one is for earth.” He stared at the badges, “I don’t really have to use the earth one very much though. No one remembers me there.” He sighed as he put the badges away, “Madam Director had to make them forget me because they still needed my help and they were asking questions.”  
“Hey. Less work though right?” She offered.  
“I guess. But that makes most of my just for fun cases no use because I’m not even a real detective down there anymore.”  
Lup smiled awkwardly, “Well. One last case you know? Find Barry!”  
He glanced at her then gave a smile, “You’re right. Let’s get going. We aren’t gonna find him at this rate!”


	10. Reunited

After hours of research and a long rest (insisted by Angus) they were out to find Barry. They had a pretty good idea of where Barry would be. With some careful calculation and a lot of guessing, they lead themselves to a cave that was near an old gerblin hideout. On the way, Angus had been telling Lup all of his detective stories as he had been happy to have a listening ear.  
“But the clue was in the lantern all along! If you lit it with a colored flame, you would see the message-”  
“Are you sure he’ll be here?” Lup asked anxiously, really just wanting to find her husband.  
“Certain! You read all the notes, you did a lot of the speculation with me. We are at least 79% sure.”  
She nodded slowly.  
It wasn’t that long of a wait before a red robed figure came close to them. On closer inspection, he was wearing glasses and carrying some sort of science object that Angus couldn’t identify but was immediately interested in. Lup was about to call out his name when Angus made an executive decision, “No. You go hide in the cave.”  
“What?”  
“Trust me.”  
Lup shook her head but hurried into the cave, leaving Angus and the ever approaching red robe. The detective leaned against the wall of the cave and waited.  
“HALT!”  
The red robe looked up from his machine with a bit of a start.  
“I’m Angus McDonald, here on accounts of illegal necromancy!”  
“Fuck,” Barry muttered under his breath as he came closer. But he sighed, “Look… kid. It’s pretty dangerous up here, you should probably be somewhere a little safer.” He looked around, “Like with your parents??”  
“My parents already know I’m here.” He blinked, “Parents? Friends? My caregivers already know I’m here.”  
“And they just let you come here alone.”  
“They know how important my detective work is!”  
Barry laughed, “You have quite the imagination huh?”  
The boy chuckled as he approached Barry who seemed very anxious about the whole thing, “I did good enough detective work to find Miss Lup before you did.”  
Barry’s eyes widened as a sudden “OOOOOHHHH!!” From inside the cave rang out. Angus smirked as Lup walked back outside in a fit of laughter.  
“Lup..” Barry muttered, completely unable to move as so many emotions flooded him. His first coherent thought was, she’s so beautiful when she laughs.  
“Babe,” Lup said through her laughs, “He roasted you!”  
“Yeah,” Barry smiled wide, not realizing tears were falling down his face. He was just so happy to see her. So fucking happy, “Yeah he did.”   
Lup threw her arms around Barry, “Okay, Come on you fuckn cry baby, let it out.”  
Barry laughed through tears as he held onto Lup like she was the only thing in the world, “I missed you so much.”  
“I missed you too,” She smiled and pulled away from Barry, “I love you, Barold. This is your first lesson.” She teased, laying a kiss on his forehead as he laughed.  
“Not a real detective,” Angus muttered, “My “wild imagination” got you two back together.” He smiled when Lup took his hat and ruffled his hair.  
“Yeah yeah, let’s get back to the moon base. They’re probably waiting.”


End file.
